davis



AprRLIO, 1928.

cmcuma KNITTING momma Filed Sept. 50. 1925 H. L. DAVIS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 22! 67 .6i6- 1 E i :s w o q lllll [U 71 I 112 ATTORNEY pose of overcoming this'defect, such as re- 1 tr acting springs, for examplebut these have Patented Apr. 10, 1928.

UNITE-D sT- rss HAMILTON LEE Davis, O-Fi'MiARTINSBUIRG, WEST :vI-nernm, assrenon TO THE INTER- ERSEY.

omouLan-xnrr'rineMACHINE.

,Application -filed September '30, 1925. {Serial 1%. 59,476.

My invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described, reference being had: to the accompanying drawlngs whlch illustrate one embodiment of the same, selected by me for purposes of illustration, and'the said invention is fully disclosed lnthe following description and claims.

.I have illustrated my invention applied and assigned to Hemphill Company, which isan improvement upon the well known Banner machine illustrated for example in the U. 'S. Letters Patent to Hemphill, No'.

933,443, dated September 7, 1909, and I will describe my present invention. as applied to .thistype ofmachine, although I wish it to .be understood that it may also be employed inmachines of other kinds.

theoperation of seamless stocking knitters, in-which provision is made for varying thesize of theknitted stitch in different courses, by elevatingtheknitting cam or 0511135 80 thatthe needles will draw a smaller .l-ofop, it is frequently found that when it is desired-to increase. the size of the stitches,

gor toarestore 'themto normal size, and the stitch-cam elevating mechanism recedes for. .that purpose, the slide or other movable sup- ;port for the secondary knitting cam or cams fails to descend as intended, with the result 7 that .succeedingcourses are knit with a 35 i the length of various .portions of the stocknag, as ,the' leg and afoot portions, for eX- --ample, is; determined by the pattern mechasmaller ortighter stitch than intended. As

nism on the basis of a predetermined number ofcircularcoursfes, result of knitting ,these courses or a plurality of them, with a smalleror tighter stitch produces a shorter fabric.thanintended and results in the production, of a defective product. Various ,ex- I pedientshave been resorted to for the purnot proved reliablelat'all times andas a result, it =frequentlyflhappens in av commercial .50

hosiery factorytheta largenumber of pairs of stockings willjbe turned out by a machine or nachines and be found upon inspec- 'tion .to he too short in the foot,to' come with- ;in the-intended size. Thishas made'it necesrod operated thereby.

sary in actualprac'tice to inspect each stocking turned out on the machines and measure the same inorder tobe sure that no defective product ':is delivered. Obviously, when the machines are in operation at'high speed, it

is ditficult, if 'not'impossible, to ascertain whether or not the knitting cams are descending at the proper point in thecycle of operation in the machine, by aninspection o'f'the machine itselfiand moreover,-the ma-- .chine may operate correctly part of the time and at other times the secondary knitting cams may fail to descend. As a matterof personal 1nvest1gat1on and "experiment, my

presentinvention has been evolved for the purpose. of. overcoming this 'dilficulty, and

it consists essentially "in providingin such machines means for positively pulling down the secondary knitting cams to thelr proper knitting positions for the longer stitches throughout t'heinstep when released from the action of the elevating mechanism.

' Itefernng tothe accompanying drawings,

, in which I have illustratedso much ofgthe 'stocking 'knitter as is necessary, for an understanding of my present invention,

Fig.1 i's "a side elevation, partly broken away, of a stocking knitter showingmy 1nvention embodied thereon.

Fig. 2 is'a'n enlarged'detail sectional view illustrating the means for supporting the knitting cams-and for elevating the same.

F 1g. 1s apartial elevation of the parts illustratedinFlg. .2, looklng 1n the direc- Ytion of the arrow in that figure, or in other The construct on and operation of the".

fBannerj machine is "so well kn'owirthat it will not be necessaryto describe more than i :the parts directly a tl ected by my invention,

it being understood that the other parts not mentioned are of the usual construction describedin the patents heretofore mentioned,

and particularly in'the Lawsonpatent.

"Referring particularly to'Figs. '2 and 3,

62 and; 63'are the secondary knitting ca1ns,--. or. st1tc'h iorming cams, for drawing down the needles and 'foriningthe stitchesfinthe reciprocating' f'work employed during the knitting of the instep on the longbuttneedles, 64, 65"an'd :6 6' 'the usual guide-o Y V guard cams.

The knitting cams, 62 and 63, are adjustable vertically, and to this end are mounted on a. plate, 67, which is attached to a slide, 68, adjustablyarranged to move vertically in a bracket, 69, secured tothe' frame, 1, by scrcWs,-70. The slide, 68, is held in position in the bracket by. screws,

71, extending through elongated slots in i .the bracket.

Suitable means, such as an ad ustmg screw, 72, are provided for limitmg the downward movement of the slide,

with respect ,to the bracket, and thus limit theposition to which the cams, 62 and 63, may be lowered, and thus determining the largest or the smallest size stitch which may be drawn. For the purpose of elevating the slide, 68, and-the secondary knitting cams to draw the latter out of operative positionwhile knitting the leg, theslide is provided 'with a block, 111, to which is secured a vertcally disposed lifting rod, 112, I the 7 lower end of whichislengaged by one end ofr a lifting lever, 113,) connected by intermediate links, or levers (not shown), with a cam actuated lever, indicated at 115 in Fig. 4, for example, one end of which is engagedfattheproper time by a cam on a I cam'wheel, 117, located onthe pattern wheel i shaft, for raising the end of the lever, 113,

,Which engages the rod, 112, at the proper times, after knitting the instep and at the s beginningof the heel pocket.

The knitting cams, 62 and 63, are also di- ,rectly connected to a radially movable block, indicated at 7 5,.mounted in the slide, 68, and

capable of moving outwardly from the axis of V the needle cylinder for the purpose of throwing the cams out of operative position when desired, automatically after the knitting of the loopers edge so as to permit leveling of theneedlesfor transferring the rib, and for the latter purpose a horizontally swung lever, 79, engaging a pin, 81, depending from the block,75 is provided, the said cams be- Img normally held in their operative or wardly extended positions by, a spring, 77

All of the parts thus far described are of known construction and operation and are illustrated and described in the Lawson patout above referred to, and it will be seen that 'bymeans of thelever, 113,;the' slide, carryfing withit thesecondary.knitting-cams, 62

and 63, may be elevated, under the control ;of,,tlie pattern mechanismor pattern wheel shaft to prevent interference with the stitches formedby the primary cams. When the' lever, 113, descends and releases the rod, 112 after the knitting of the heel pocket Joy; the short butt needles, the slide, 68,

e should descend until it is arrested -by the set screw, 7 2, but as before stated, in actual practic'eit very frequently happens that the s cam spdo notdescend when" released frekvquently due tothe gumming of oil on the as parts, with the result that additional courses, sometimes through the entire instep of a stocking, for example, are knit with the smaller .or tighter stitch, thus producing a shorter fabric than desired and resulting in defective work.

According to my invention I provide means for positively pulling down the, slide,

68, after ithas been'released by the lever, 113, To this end I prefer to providethe slide, and inv this'instance, the block, 111, carried thereby, with laterally extending arm,220, having an aperture in its outer end for the connection thereto of a vertically disposed connecting rod, 218, which wheel shaft, 9, said shaft also carrying the canrwheel,[117. The cam wheels, 117 and 224. may be separate cam wheels or may be formed integrally, if desired. The connecting rod, 218, preferably extends through a hole in the boss, 217, and is adjustably securedin position by a set screw, 225. In

ordertliat the downward pull exerted on'the rod, 218, may always draw down the slide, 68, and the knitting cams, 62 and 63, no matter whatposition. the adjusting screw, 72, may occupy, and at the same time in order toprevent the breaking or bending of the arm, 220,01 other part of the mechanism, I provide the rod, 218, with a? head or enlargement, 221, between which and the 1 arm, 220, is inserted a spring, 226. This spring is of sulfici'ent stiffness so that whenv the rod, 218, is drawn downwardly, by the action of the cams, 219and 21$),"and lever,

215, will positively insure the drawing down a of the block, 111, and slide, 168, and the no matter whether the parts are" gummed with oil so as to work stifily or otherwise,

resiliency in "the spring to permit a slight iyielding thereof, when the slide, 68,'engages the set screw, 72, and isa'rrestedin its lowest ad usted poslt on, This spring does not'flex lknitting cams, 62, 63, under allcondi'tions, 1

and at the same time. there will be-su'llicie'nt under any conditions in the action'of drawingdown the slide '68 and'the secondary knitting cams unless of course the set screw 72 is adjustedrelativelyhigh to produce;

a comparatively short'stitch, in which event breakage of "parts," It will be understood,

12 5 the spring will slightly give .to prevent however that the s rin ma- "be entirelv U n v omitted provided of course that every time the operator 'adjusts'the set screw 72 to oband are raised by down the cams is pg sieve 0 the point Where s we shale; am zes;wimg misemi ad usting "On starting to knit.

151 163, areiiestored 6Q perafiv pbsition,

'm'ti' n and positivelydraws down the seelever, 113 sdthat fihese stfitlch caiiis'will draw person of the stocking. w

H At thecommeneement'qf the heel p'oftfdn, "the sm teh cmjt1 's, 62 ain'd'63yare agam ra lsed andfthlflown into meperaitlve'pos t lon, and

111s heel is klji t-"iri the usual manner by rebiproeiti'ng knitting, and na'rrowing and widening 611 section; of tlie' "cjreulars'eri'es.

, V felvatm'gsaicl cams, ands-seams fonr posmveby" reciprbcst-i'ligl knitting nan-(swin Widening I 0 11 a seetioni the needles, 51nd the us'uztl revel-mg courses iiie kllltfied foot betweenthe heel pocket andtheQ/cb pobk'efi, th'ereby determining the standa'rd size of the socky'aind obviously, if the 11m n"- ber of-courses in the instep and foot for which thepattein mechanism isset tofp'ibdube, say a number-n1ne s'0ck, Wf knitted the finishing ppeesse's'. This neessziryim speetmifluts heretofore mused adchtmnsl ex- WVhiIe I have t li is i'n sfishee forbiin'gihg' myimpr'p'vecl cam restoring" means 1 11110- operatlqn 'twlce durthat oneor more 111 be employed accordm thikni'tt'ing pf the stbeking, it is 1:0 be "u hde'lstbdjd that-my invention is not limited ail-57 stitchformingj 'ams movable vertically, iifieapfs' ai i siii-n'g "the Cains" their l sfi posit-ion itoi cause the'rir'to draw tact with the arresting means and to then yield to avoid subjecting the parts to undue strain or breakage.

8. In a circular stocking knitter provided with a circular series of" needles and vertically movable secondary kmtting cams for regulating the size of the stitches drawn by the needles, a vertically movable slide supporting said knitting cams, hand operated adjusting means for limiting the downward movement, of said 'sllde to determlne thev maximum slze of stitch drawn by the needle,

pattern controlled elevating ineehanisnri'or said slide and means for positively drawing down said slide and knitting cams when released by said elevating mechanism, 1n-

cluding aiho'rizontal arm secured to said slide and provided with an aperture therethrough, a pull rod extending through said aperture, a spring interposed between said pull rod and said arm, a pull-down leverhaving one end adjustably connected to said rod and a pull-down cam controlled by the the combination With vertically movable sec-- ondary knitting cams, means for elevating the cams and adjustable means for arrestmg the descent of the cams to determine the size of the stitch drawnthereby, of mechanism vfol-positively drawlng down said cams at a predetermined point in the cycle of the.

operation of the machine into contact with said arresting means, and means lncluded in 8211(1 mechamsm for yleldmgly accommodating the adjustment of said arresting means. y

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HAMILTON LEE DAVIS.

I pattern mechanism, for engaging the other p 

